The stone dais was freezing compared to the blood running down my shoulder. My heart still beat loudly from fighting for my life only moments ago. Pressing my hand firmly against my wound, I sat up as straight as I could manage.

The other side of the portal gave way to a lush forest. The gateway within the stone arch behind me faded, and now the only light came from a gentle moon. Fresh footsteps dimly showed in the muddy ground.

I crawled up to give chase once again. He will not get away with this, I thought to myself over and over again.

My steps were starting to become unsteady. I was losing blood quickly, but I couldn't stop. I had to save her. I had to save her from that monster.

An image flashed before my eyes: her body lying still on the couch, him hovering over her, gently caressing her face, his chin smeared with her blood.

Surely she was still alive? Why kidnap a dead body, when the house was in such a state? With blood splattered everywhere, taking her body wouldn't do much to cover up his attack. Yes, she was alive. I just had to make sure I got to her before he did something worse.

It was cold. Or I was cold. Even the running wasn't keeping me warm anymore. Luckily, it had rained recently and the trail continued in the mud. So I had hope. I couldn't think of anything else but to put one foot in front of the other.

It was the end of autumn. Most of the leaves had already fallen. The ones that remained swayed gently in the cold wind, their rustling the only sound beside my harsh breathing. It seemed the season here matched the one back home. The colors around me betrayed that this was not my world, however. Instead of orange and red, the leaves were grey and a sickly purple.

The further I went into the forest, the more difficult it became to distinguish the prints from random spots of dirt between the dark leaves. The trees got closer and closer together and more leaves covered the ground. It became difficult to walk as my shoes started slipping on the wet foliage.

By now, my lungs were burning. How could he get so far ahead? He had gone through the portal only seconds before me, but I could not see nor hear him. I couldn't keep this up much longer.

My foot slipped and my already unsteady legs finally gave out. As I fell forward, I tried to catch myself with my hands. My heart was beating in my throat. Despair was starting to overtake me. Please, someone, help me save her.

Then, for the first time since falling into this strange world, I heard a sound that hadn't come from me. I tried to slow my breathing so I could hear more clearly. Footsteps, coming my way.

I didn't know whether to be relieved or terrified.

I tried to sit up once again. The closer the steps got, the bigger the feeling of dread in my stomach. Whatever was coming my way was not a person. It was heavy. Extremely heavy, for something with only two legs. The first thing that hit me was the smell. Like something rotting away in a swamp during an especially hot summer.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

When it finally came into my sight, my breath caught.

The moonlight revealed a creature so revolting, my stomach's contents rose to the back of my throat.

The creature had been a person, once. Female, I guessed. Its body had been stabbed in multiple places, the wounds having become big, festering holes. It was being held together by a dark mist twirling around, entering and leaving the body in waves. Decomposition had caused its belly and mouth to bloat, but the mist was preventing the gas from escaping. Its skin was the same sickly colors as the leaves around us, with the exception of some areas that had darkened even further. Some patches of its hair were burned off, the rest stuck to its scalp in a big bloody mess. Where its eyes once were, now was only the rotting flesh of the socket. Its muscles were bulging in random places, as if they were the result of some sick, disturbed version of doping.

It moved its mutilated corpse towards me, mouth gaping as if it was still in pain, arms stretched out as if asking for help.

As it got closer, the stench intensified until finally, it became unbearable. I puked.

Still heaving, I tried to get up, or at least crawl away. My legs were shaking badly and I only got a few meters between us before they gave in again.

The thing stopped.

I felt relieved, being given a moment to gather my strength, but it didn't last.

The thing uttered a wail so horrifying, I felt like crying and screaming at the same time.

Then it charged.

Its arms no longer gave off a sense of helplessness, instead tensing to grab hold of me. The massive, deformed legs carried it faster than I had thought possible.

Panic overtook me. There was no way to outrun this. I wasn't even sure my legs would be able to get me up.

That's when I noticed the silver trinket, now softly glowing in the dark, a few paces away from me. I had ripped it off the prick's neck while fighting to get him off of me, as well as his fangs out of my neck, earlier tonight. I had been so focused on chasing after him, I hadn't noticed I'd been carrying it with me all this time.

Its light seemed to be calling out to me, giving me the feeling that if only I managed to get hold of it, I would be able to get out of this mess.

Unfortunately, I had dropped it during my fall, and the pendant was now lying behind the repulsive thing still coming at me.

With the tiny amount of strength I had gathered, I crawled up, and waited.

When there was just an arm's length between us, I took my chance. I jumped forward into a roll, desperately crawling to cross the final few paces. I managed to grab the small, ornamental sword hanging from the necklace.

Light shot out of it, blinding me.

The thing behind me roared and I heard it take a few heavy steps back.

When I opened my eyes again, I was holding a large blade, its etchings glowing dimly. I turned around, charged at the nightmare that was before me and swung the blade with my last bit of strength.

Strangely, I wasn't met with any resistance as the blade went down.

The dark mist started to burn away where it was cut and the thing fell to its knees. It went quiet, before looking up at me. Its face changed one last time, into an appalling smile. For a moment, I could see the young woman she once had been. She seemed grateful. Then all softness disappeared.

The corpse fell forward, this time going still for good. As the last bit of mist faded, the body ruptured. The explosion threw me several feet into the air.

When I hit the ground, my vision went dark. In the distance I heard rumbling.

Then my consciousness faded.